The Champions League returns on Friday, but not as we know it.
Europe’s premier competition will be finished over the next few weeks as a mini-tournament, with the quarter-finals onwards hosted in the city of Lisbon.
But, before we get there, four last-16 ties must be decided and for the last time this season, we’ll be seeing second legs.
Those have been scrapped for the quarter and semi-finals, so make the most of them this weekend!
Manchester City take a 2-1 lead into their fixture with Real Madrid, Juventus are 1-0 down to Lyon, Barcelona and Napoli are all square at 1-1 while Bayern Munich have a 3-0 lead against Chelsea.
After these fixtures are completed, we won’t be seeing two-leg ties going forward and the competition will feel a little bit different this month.
But fear not, if you’re really missing the drama of away goals and aggregate scorelines, we’ve got you covered. Here are five of the greatest second leg comebacks in Champions League history.
1. Roma 3-0 Barcelona (2018)
Barcelona would have been feeling confident when they took a 4-1 lead to the Stadio Olimpico in 2018, expecting to book their place in that season’s semi-finals.
But goals from Edin Dzeko, Daniele de Rossi and Kostas Manolas secured a stunning turnaround and prompted some of the greatest commentary ever heard from Peter Drury.
‘Roma have risen from their ruins, Manolas, the Greek God in Rome! The unthinkable unfolds before our eyes!’ Absolutely iconic. What a night.
2. Chelsea 4-1 Napoli (2012)
Back in March 2012, Chelsea were on the brink of collapse. The club had sacked manager Andre Villas-Boas and it was up to Roberto Di Matteo to lead the old guard to European glory.
It was perhaps the final shot that Frank Lampard, John Terry and Didier Drogba had at winning the Champions League and they needed to overturn a 3-1 deficit from the first leg against Napoli.
On an incredible night at Stamford Bridge, goals from each of those three sent the tie to extra time before Branislav Ivanovic popped up with the winner in the 105th minute, sending Chelsea through 5-4 on aggregate.
3. Deportivo 4-0 AC Milan (2004)
AC Milan were the strongest team in Europe 15 years ago and after a 4-1 win in the first leg of their quarter-final against Deportivo, they were favourites to defend their Champions League crown.
But that didn’t happen. First-half goals from Walter Pandiani, Juan Carlos Valeron and Albert Luque had the Spanish side in dreamland – and heading through on away goals.
They completed the comeback in the second half with Gonzalez Fran rounding off the scoring. The tie finished 5-4 on aggregate as Deportivo joined Chelsea, Monaco and Porto in the semi-finals.
